[.ca] A Hard Road

White-Bread British Blues:
"A Hard Road" is fairly unexceptional, competent '60s British blues. Eric Clapton has left and been replaced by Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green - but that makes little difference in the sound. The only foreshadowing of Peter Green's future greatness is "The Supernatural." Otherwise, the rest is fairly pedestrian. The band is tight and produces a great sound. But Mayall's voice is extremely "white" and poorly suited to the blues - even by English standards. Not a bad album, but - despite what others will say - not essential either.

The 60's were so amazing::
It seemed as though everyone was trying to outdo themselves back then. We knew the next Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, or Yardbirds record whould at least try,(and often succeed), to be different and better than their previous release. But who would have thought that Mayall could do that without Clapton? Enter Peter Green, after 37 years, still the greatest white electric blues lead guitarist -ever-, (apologies to Bloomfield, EC, and SRV fans).

Roots:
Want to hear the best blues guitarist ever at a seminal point in his development? Get this CD and listen to "The Supernatural", Peter Green's Scorpionic mid-sixties instrumental. Deep and expansive, this track is head and shoulders above the rest of the album. "Black Magic Woman" and many of Carlos Santana's guitar excursions are firmly based on this first-ever Green tune. Peter Green has been mentioned alongside many guitarists. But, he truly stands alone. He had Hendrix's expansiveness and a depth that no other guitarist approached, white OR black. Yes, that sounds outrageous and the tracks on this LP won't substantiate that claim. But, that one track will show where this 19 year-old was about to go. By the time he quit at 24, he was somewhere very special. If you are into Clapton, Beck or Page, you probably won't understand what all the fuss is about this Peter Green guy. But, if you want to FEEL...there is no better guitarist to experience. The rest of the album is very good to poor. Mayall can sound excellent, as on "Someday After Awhile" or terrible "A Hard Road". The rythm section is solid and Aynsley Dunbar was one of the most interesting drummers around. He sounded like a "lead" instrument at the kit. But, Green hated it. He thought it was too busy! The man was such an incredible stickler for FEELING. Buy this if you're willing to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Overpriced:
Now that I have your attention! Yeah, the music is great and every song is a gem (checked it out of a library), but I think that consumers should boycott this and other overpriced CDs until they're remastered and extra tracks are added. This CD is only 37 minutes long and it's a rip off that it's priced so high for so little music. Since a CD can hold 80 minutes of music it's not too much to ask that older works such as this be packed as tightly as possible. There's hundreds of other value-priced CDs out there, we don't need to buy this now.

Awsome CD:
This is one of the best blues albums ever made and it came from accross the pond. Peter Green is awsome (SRV is better though by a lot soory to one of the past reviewers its just true) in fact Green is better or as good as Clapton. This album and the one with Clapton is a must for classic rock and blues fans!

• Hard Road
• It's Over
• You Don't Love Me
• Stumble - John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
• Another Kinda Love
• Hit the Highway
• Leaping Christine
• Dust My Blues
• There's Always Work
• Same Way
• Supernatural
• Top of the Hill
• Someday After a While (You'll Be Sorry)
• Living Alone